Aldon Smith is 3 sacks from tying Michael Strahan's single season sack record. He has 3 games to play. Does anybody outside of the bay area have an inkling of how good this guy is? Seems to me he's still not talked about as being one of the elite passrushers in the game. If somebody like JJ watt or Jason Pierre Paul were approaching the record ESPN would be all over it. Because Northern CA is not a huge media market in ESPN's eyes it seems the only time I hear about Smith being a premier passrusher is when the niners play in PrimeTime and Tirico or Gruden are raving about his skillset, Strength, and Speed.

So my question is, 1 Is he the Premier pass rusher in football?

12-10-2012, 05:39 PM

Norm

Is he THE premier pass rusher....hmm. Maybe.

If he breaks the record it's kind of hard to argue against it.

12-10-2012, 05:39 PM

JoeDirt05

cool story bro

helps to get sacks when your DE (justin smith) is always holding the offensive lineman

12-10-2012, 05:40 PM

Norm

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeDirt05

cool story bro

helps to get sacks when your DE (justin smith) is always holding the offensive lineman

Oh stop.

12-10-2012, 05:42 PM

Aust

He'll break the record knocking Brady to the ground :ohno:

12-10-2012, 05:42 PM

Bowman53

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeDirt05

cool story bro

helps to get sacks when your DE (justin smith) is always holding the offensive lineman

Only 3 of his sacks this season have come on the stunt with Justin Smith. Try again.

12-10-2012, 05:42 PM

JoeDirt05

Quote:

The Giants have every reason to be worried about 49ers Justin Smith when formulating their game plan for Sunday and they’d like a little help from the officials to help keep him in check.

Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride had tons of praise for Smith’s game when speaking to reporters about the 49ers star. He tempered it with his feeling that Smith gets away with things that should be penalized, however.

“Smith is a beast on the inside,” Gilbride said, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “He’s strong, he does as good a job of grabbing a hold of offensive linemen and allowing those twists to take place. He never gets called for it, so he gets away with murder.”

Trying to work the officials through the media is a time-honored tradition in all sports so it’s not surprising to see Gilbride level this charge ahead of the matchup at Candlestick this weekend. Given how rarely defensive linemen are flagged for holding offensive linemen, it would be surprising to see the lobbying pay off in any calls but it’s worth a shot.

Smith has yet to record a sack this season, although the 49ers pass rush hasn’t lost much effectiveness as a result. If the Giants want to keep him at zero on the season, they’re probably going to have to do it by themselves.

Quote:

Fisher says Justin Smith does a great job in the 'grab game'

Jim Harbaugh probably won't be firing off another press release after this one ... we think.

For the second time this season, an opposing coach has noted that 49ers defensive end Justin Smith tends to get a little grabby when it comes to running stunts with NFL sack leader Aldon Smith.

"The one that's most effective is the grab game, it's been in the game forever," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said when asked about the stunts the two players run. "And Justin does a great job of it, a really good job of it."

Earlier this year, Giants defensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said Justin Smith "gets away with murder" when it comes to holding offensive linemen. That prompted Harbaugh to type up and send off a press release accusing Gilbride and the Giants of trying to influence the officials.

"Kevin Gilbride's outrageous, irrational statement regarding Justin Smith's play is, first, an absurd analogy," Harbaugh said. "Second, it is an incendiary comment targeting one of the truly exemplary players in this league. It's obvious that the Giants coaching staff's sole purpose is to use their high visibility to both criticize and influence officiating."

Asked today if he was implying that Justin Smith is holding on the stunts, Fisher noted he wasn't crying foul.

"I'm not implying, I'm just stating facts," he said. "And I'm not complaining. Everybody does it, and Justin does a great job of it. As long as his feet are moving toward the quarterback, it won't get called. It's a legal act. Now if he grabs and pulls backward - a pull and shoot -- it's not necessarily legal but it's not something that's going to be called."

Fisher had a good line during the conference call. He called the start of Sunday's game in St. Louis "the sixth quarter" after the teams tied on Nov. 11. ... Like every other coach the 49ers have faced in recent weeks, he said the Rams were preparing for both Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick this week.

when multiple coaches from different teams point it out it has to have some truth to it

From your own article and Jeff Fisher's mouth:

"I'm not implying, I'm just stating facts," he said. "And I'm not complaining. Everybody does it, and Justin does a great job of it. As long as his feet are moving toward the quarterback, it won't get called. It's a legal act. Now if he grabs and pulls backward - a pull and shoot -- it's not necessarily legal but it's not something that's going to be called."

Congratulations, you've dispelled your own conspiracy theory...

12-10-2012, 05:59 PM

Norm

Quote:

Originally Posted by valade16

From your own article and Jeff Fisher's mouth:

"I'm not implying, I'm just stating facts," he said. "And I'm not complaining. Everybody does it, and Justin does a great job of it. As long as his feet are moving toward the quarterback, it won't get called. It's a legal act. Now if he grabs and pulls backward - a pull and shoot -- it's not necessarily legal but it's not something that's going to be called."

Congratulations, you've dispelled your own conspiracy theory...

And completely ruined a decent thread idea with rivalry bullcrap.

12-10-2012, 06:04 PM

JoeDirt05

Quote:

Originally Posted by valade16

From your own article and Jeff Fisher's mouth:

"I'm not implying, I'm just stating facts," he said. "And I'm not complaining. Everybody does it, and Justin does a great job of it. As long as his feet are moving toward the quarterback, it won't get called. It's a legal act. Now if he grabs and pulls backward - a pull and shoot -- it's not necessarily legal but it's not something that's going to be called."

Congratulations, you've dispelled your own conspiracy theory...

Quote:

Holding
Defensive linemen must follow the same rules as offensive linemen pertaining to holding and illegal use of the hands. The defensive lineman may not grab the offensive player's jersey or strike the offensive player in the head or helmet. The defensive lineman must keep his hands inside the offensive player's body, meaning that the defensive player is not allowed to bring his hands around the defensive player in a hugging motion. The penalty for both holding and illegal use of the hands is five yards and an automatic first down in the National Football League, and 10 yards in both college and high school.